HEMPSTEAD, N.Y — The Hofstra Pride continues to fight defensively but finding enough offense to win has been a less consistent attainment.
Such was the case again as Hofstra began a key two-game homestand against two of its fellow preseason Colonial Athletic Association favorites.
This time, the Pride (9-7, 1-2 CAA) gave itself a better chance by scoring more in the paint and — at least for one contest — fixing its prior rebounding problems. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the Hofstra’s latest poor shooting game in a 67-61 loss to the Charleston Cougars (13-3, 3-0 CAA) at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Thursday night.
A 14-4 run turned an early three-point deficit into a 25-18 Pride lead late in the opening half, a margin that was maintained after a left-corner 3-pointer from sophomore guard Jean Aranguren (who led Hofstra with 19 points and seven assists, to go along with 11 rebounds), but sophomore guard Deywilk Tavarez (nine points) answered that shot with a desperation halfcourt heave that beat the first half buzzer to pull Charleston within 31-27 by intermission.
That proved to be a boost to the Cougars, who scored the first 10 points of the second half to go up, 37-31. Although the Pride stayed within striking distance after that, Charleston led the rest of the way.
“I thought we played great,” head coach Craig “Speedy” Claxton said. “I can’t be mad at my guys. We were right there and we put ourselves in a position to win. We just had a tough two-minute stretch to start the second half… and that was the game.”
While the Cougars have a new head coach (with Chris Mack taking over for Pat Kelsey, now at Louisville) and several different pieces, the defending CAA regular season and CAA tournament champions were picked second in the conference preseason poll, two spots ahead of the Pride and one spot ahead of Hofstra’s next opponent, North Carolina-Wilmington (at The Mack on Saturday). They also still have a couple of primary holdovers from last year’s title-winning team in CAA Preseason Player of the Year, forward Ante Brzovic and his main setup man, senior point guard C.J. Fulton.
Reflecting on Tavarez’s shot to end the first half, “It definitely gave us a bit of momentum. A four-point game is a lot different than a seven-point game, especially when you get the ball [to start] the second half, so it was definitely a big shot [to help us] win those first four minutes of the second half and to put the pressure on [Hofstra].”
Anchored by solid resistance from graduate forward Michael Graham (16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds), the Pride was able to mostly keep Brzovic (game-best 23 points, 11 rebounds) in check while building its first-half lead, limiting the talented 6-foot-10 big man to a fairly harmless nine points and five rebounds before the break. However, Brzovic hurt Hofstra with 14 second-half points (on 7 of 10 shooting) and six more boards after halftime.
Fulton, who had all but three of Charleston’s 15 assists, had a half-dozen helpers in each half without committing a turnover all game.
“That’s what I try to do every night, just control the game and get my teammates good looks,” Fulton said. After five of his dozen assists came on Brzovic buckets, Fulton added of his teammate, “He’s such a smart player. When he’s scoring the ball like that, it’s easy for me to get in there and dish it off, and he finishes well.” Claxton said, “I’m proud of the effort. I thought my guys came out and competed at both ends of the court. Down the stretch, Brzovic just took over. He’s the Preseason Player of the Year for a reason. He won them the game.”
While the Pride — which had been relying perhaps too much on the 3-point shot in earlier losses this season — more than kept pace in the paint (with a 34-32 edge) and held surprising advantages on the boards (51-39 overall and 16- on the offensive glass), Hofstra committed twice as many turnovers (12-6), which led to Charleston’s decisive 14-5 edge in points off turnovers.
After the Pride stayed as close as 46-44 with 9:33 left, the Cougars scored the next seven points for a game-high lead of nine points, which Charleston later matched, at 55-46, with 5:25 remaining.
One last serious Hofstra push made it 57-54 on a left-corner 3-pointer from Aranguren with 3:36 to go, but a 7-2 run kept the visitors comfortably ahead, 64-56, in the final minute.
Both teams struggled about equally from 3-point range, where the Cougars shot just 5 for 23 and the Pride 6 for 23.
While Hofstra allowed just 32.3 percent shooting (10-for-31) in the first half, Charleston shot 48.4 percent (15 for 31) after halftime. Each team made 25 field goals but the Pride did so on 10 more shots (72-62) to end the game a dismal 34.7 percent overall.
“We struggled from 3-point range other than Jean (4 for 5), but guys just have to get into the gym and get extra shots. That’s the only way to correct it, they’ve got to work on it.”
Missing starting guard Jaquan Sanders, who had been hampered by knee tendonitis earlier this season, and who played only two minutes in Hofstra’s prior game (an 18-point win at Northeastern on Saturday) further damaged Hofstra’s ability to score.
Holding back on any details surrounding Sanders’ absence, a tight-lipped Claxton said merely, “He’ll be back pretty soon. He’s just handling some things.”
For the most part, the Pride is doing the same with figuring out its offensive struggles, something Hofstra will have to improve soon if it hopes to eventually keep pace with the like of Charleston near the top of the CAA standings.